David Ornstein offers two reasons it has taken Liverpool so long to offer Mo Salah a new contract

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Liverpool were given another glimpse into the fact that the best player in the world may be playing for them on Wednesday

The Reds were dismal for long periods of the Premier League game against Newcastle.

But, suddenly, up popped the inevitable Mohamed Salah. First, Salah set up Curtis Jones with a trademark ‘trivela’ assist.

Then, with Liverpool behind again, Salah led the fightback himself, bagging twice in the final 22 minutes to put the Reds on the verge of a big Premier League victory.

That they could not hold on from there does little to diminish the brilliance Salah displayed at St James’ Park.

As it always does at the moment, the Egyptian’s sensational form threw up questions about why Liverpool are taking so long to offer him a new contract. Thankfully, journalist David Ornstein might have some answers.

Why has Mohamed Salah’s contract taken so long?

Salah is unquestionably the best player in the Premier League right now. The 32-year-old took his goal contribution tally to 21 in 14 games on Wednesday.

Unbelievably, given the striker’s dominance of the award over the past two years, Salah is now ahead of Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot.

As a result, there have been plenty of calls to ‘give Mo what he wants,’ with fans worried about the lack of progress on his contract, as well as that of Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

But after breaking the news that Liverpool have offered a new deal to Van Dijk, which was rejected, Ornstein has offered a theory on why the Reds are taking longer to act on Salah.

READ MORE: Arne Slot states what he’s ‘expecting’ Mo Salah to do at Liverpool after Newcastle heroics

“Why has Mo Salah not been offered one and Virgil van Dijk has? That’s a question Liverpool will have to answer,” Ornstein told NBC Sports on Thursday morning.

“Maybe they are prioritising their captain. Maybe they know they’re too far off on Salah that they didn’t want to make a formal offer yet to risk antagonising his camp. Let’s see.

“Both of them are very high earners already, they’re already in their 30’s. That would sort of go against FSG’s policy, their Moneyball model,” he adds. “So, it’s a huge decision for them as well. They’re in peak form but not in peak age bracket.”

Liverpool set to offer Mo Salah contract

Breaking the news about Van Dijk’s rejected offer on Wednesday, Ornstein also dropped a small update on Salah.

Writing in The Athletic, the journalist said that a proposal being made to the Egyptian is ‘anticipated to come soon.’

Whether Liverpool will look to tie up the loose ends with Van Dijk first remains to be seen.

It could also be that the Reds captain is waiting to see what the Liverpool owners offer to Salah before committing to what he wants himself.

Either way, there does finally appear to be some positive movement happening. After what Salah showed on the pitch once again on Wednesday evening, let’s hope the offer is one Liverpool’s Egyptian King is happy with.